Governor Bassey Otu on Thursday ended years of disjointed governance in Cross River with the official launch of the State Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Policy, a sweeping reform designed to track public funds from allocation to impact.

Unveiled at the Metropolitan Hotel in Calabar and developed with the support of UNICEF, the policy sets a new rule that no unbudgeted or unmonitored expenditure will be tolerated, as the administration moves from counting projects to measuring results.

In a a keynote address at the launching, Governor Otu, represented by the Vice Chairman, Cross River State Planning Commission Dr Bong Duke declared that his administration is transitioning from mere project reporting to demanding verifiable, evidence-based results.

“Our administration is guided by the belief that governance must be measured not merely by the number of projects initiated or activities undertaken, but by the positive and lasting impact they make in the lives of our citizens,” Governor Otu stated.

The newly unveiled framework is structured to bridge long-standing gaps between state planning, budgeting, and project execution.

Designed to align with the Cross River State Development Plan 2024–2033, the M&E policy will establish strict performance indicators across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as Local Government Councils.

Addressing civil servants and political appointees directly, Governor Otu, represented by the vice chairman of the state Planning Commission, Dr Bong Duke charged public institutions to treat the policy as a practical tool rather than administrative red tape.

“Reports must go beyond figures and paperwork; they must provide credible information that supports action, accountability, and better service delivery,” he warned.

“Monitoring and evaluation is not intended to create fear among public officers or add unnecessary bureaucracy… It is a means of identifying problems, learning from experience, and improving the quality of our collective performance.”

To ensure the policy translates into tangible improvements, Otu outlined several core mandatesto include focus on vulnerable groups, explicit prioritization of children, women, girls, persons with disabilities, rural communities, and underserved populations who face structural barriers to public services.

In her address, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Enugu Field Office, Dr. Juliet Chiluwe, described the newly launched Cross River State Monitoring and Evaluation Policy as a practical tool that will translate public investments into measurable improvements in the lives of citizens, especially children.

She congratulated the government and people of the state, saying the policy goes beyond a document to embed evidence, accountability and learning in development planning and delivery.

She disclosed that UNICEF provided technical and financial support for the home-grown policy, which was developed after a needs assessment and wide consultations, and which domesticates the National M&E Policy to align local priorities with national objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to her, the policy will address fragmented and underfunded monitoring arrangements by providing a coordinated framework for tracking results across state and local governments.

“The ultimate test of the policy lies in what it changes for children — whether children are healthier, learning and better protected, and whether essential services are reaching underserved communities,” Chiluwe said.

She lauded the policy’s emphasis on disaggregated data, child-sensitive indicators and participatory monitoring, which he said will make inequalities visible and give communities a voice in assessing public services.

The UNICEF Chief of Field Office, noted that its four priorities of planning, coordination, capacity-building and financing, supported by common indicators, annual costed M&E plans and reliable information systems, provide a clear route to implementation, stressing the need for trained personnel and sustained funding.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the State Planning Commission, Dr Bong Duke

said the framework is anchored on the State Development Plan 2024-2033 which envisions a thriving, inclusive and green economy.

He declared that nothing should be in the budget that is not in the development plan, stressing that timelines and Key Performance Indicators will be strictly enforced from the 2027 budget cycle.

Addressing fears that monitoring teams could become tools of extortion, Otu assured that the newly established M&E bodies will operate strictly within the law and the policy framework to prevent abuse.

According to him, the Planning Commission will coordinate the policy across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the 18 Local Government Areas from Bakassi to Obanliku to harmonize evaluation and enforce the People’s First mantra.

Presenting the needs assessment, Dr. Felix Awara Eke of the University of Calabar said the study of 70 respondents across MDAs revealed no legal mandate for M&E, no dedicated structure beyond PRS departments, low capacity, absence of budget lines and weak data archiving.

Dr Eke, represented by the Chief Planning Officer of the State Planning Commission, Dr Ofem Obono Oka recommended five priorities to reposition the system: a legal mandate for M&E, creation of a dedicated M&E Unit in the Planning Commission, an M&E Strategy linked to the SDP, capacity building for results-based planning, and a compliance law with penalties for non-use of M&E data